Time delayed theft alarm for a carrying case

ABSTRACT

A carrying case alarm system has a time-delay mechanism for initiating an alarm signal at some predetermined time after theft of the carrying case has occurred, thereby enabling the owner of the case to separate himself from the thief prior to initiation of the alarm signal. The system comprises a first switch positioned for operation by a carrying handle on the case, the switch being connected to energize an electromagnet for actuating a pivotal lever. The lever is pivoted by a spring but impeded in its motion by a dashpot, said lever being positioned to close a second switch for energizing the alarm after a predetermined time depending on the pivotal speed of the lever as limited by the dashpot.

United States Patent Forte [54] TIME DELAYED THEFT ALARM FOR A CARRYING CASE [72] Inventor: Peter W. Forte, 30 Vassor Place,

Rockville Centre, NY. 11570 [22] Filed: June 4, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 43,358

1151 3,656,144 1451 Apr. 11, 1972 3,103,660 9/1963 Ticktin ..340/279 2,826,656 3/1958 Gordon ..340/283 Primary Examiner-John W. Caldwell Assistant Examiner-Scott F. Partridge Attorney-Charles E. Baxley, Frank M. Nolan and Thomas E. Tate [5 7] ABSTRACT A carrying case alarm system has a time-delay mechanism for initiating an alarm signal at some predetermined time after theft of the carrying case has occurred, thereby enabling the owner of the case to separate himself from the thief prior to initiation of the alarm signal. The system comprises a first switch 5 References cited positioned for operation by a carrying handle on the case, the

swltch being connected to energize an electromagnet for ac- UNITED STATES PATENTS tuating a pivotal lever. The lever is pivoted by a spring but impeded in its motion by a dashpot, said lever being positioned 1,1 16276 I H1914 Hoffman et a1 ""200/6135 to close a second switch for energizing the alarm after 21 31564525 2/1971 Robeson ct "340/283 predetermined time depending on the pivotal speed of the 919,385 4/ 1909 Ruthven ....200/61.85 lever as limited by the dashpot 2,038,625 4/1936 Adler ..340/280 3,053,416 9/ 1 962 Harner ..340/283 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 49 43 /7 ;--x 7 U n /8\ a Q? TIME DELAYED THEFI ALARM FOR A CARRYING CASE BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Various alarm systems for carrying cases are known in the prior art, but such systems include means which set off the alarm device immediately. It has been found that such devices frequently cause a thief to panic, whereupon (hopefully) he maydrop the case and run, or in anger he may attempt to harm the individual from whom the case is taken. It is believed that the carrier of the case will be safer if the alarm is delayed for some predetermined time while the thief attempts to escape from the presence of the carrier; whereby, when the alarm commences the thief will be unable to harm the carrier and will merely drop the case and run. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a reliable burglar alarm device for a carrying case, said alarm device having a time-delay mechanism which can be initiated by the carrier, and which, once initiated, is not controllable from the outside of the case.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, I provide a carrying case burglar alarm system having a triggering device which is accessible externally of the case; having an alarm device disposed within the case; and having delay means for actuating the alarm device at some predetermined time after operation of the triggering device. The invention further comprises a device for disabling the alarm system at any time prior to operation of the triggering device to prevent an inadvertent sounding of the alarm.

In particular, one embodiment of the invention comprises a case having a carrying handle connected thereto by rods which are slidably movable downwardly into the case for actuating electrical switches. The electrical switches are connected in a series circuit with contacts of a disabling switch, an electromagnet, and a battery for energizing the electromagnet to unlatch a pivotally movable lever. The lever is pivoted under the force of a spring, but is limited in speed of movement by a dashpot, so that the time for lever movement from one point to another can be controlled quite accurately. A siren control switch, actuatable by said lever, is disposed in the path of movement of the lever, and is connected in series with a siren and the battery to switch on the siren after a delay period controlled by a dashpot adjustment.

The disabling device comprises a rotatable disk mounted within the case for stepped movement by means of a push button and ratchet arrangement, said push button being mounted for access externally of the case. The disk has alternating conductive and non-conductive strips about its periphery, and the above-mentioned disabling switch contacts are arranged to contact the disk strips. Thus, when it is desired to disable the circuit, the push button is depressed to advance the disk until at least one of the disabling contacts engages a non-conductive strip on the disk, thereby opening the electromagnetic circuit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The accompanying drawing illustrates one embodiment of the invention. In such drawing:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an alarm system embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a disk similar to that shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a carrying case embodying the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In one embodiment of the invention, as shown in the drawing, there is provided a carrying case generally designated having conventional locks 11, a special handle 12, and a push button 13 accessible from outside the case. Disposed within the case 10 is a lockable metal box 14, having a speaker opening 15 disposed flush with an outer wall 16 of the case 10. The wall 16 is provided with a fabric covering and has a grille covered opening (not shown) aligned with the speaker opening 15 to permit efficient radiation of sound from the case. Handle 12 in top wall 17 of case 10 is hinged to two slidable rods 18 terminating in contact shoes 19, said rods being biased downwardly by a pair of springs 20. When handle 12 is tilted with respect to case 10 or conversely when case 10 rocks due to walking momentum, only one or the other of shoes 19 touches its contact 21. However, if the case 10 is put down, or the handle 10 released, then both shoes 19 touch contacts 21, thereby completing a series circuit including an electromagnet 22 and a battery 45.

The electromagnet 22 cooperates with an armature 23, which is biased in the clockwise direction by a spring 24. Energization of the electromagnet causes the armature to pivot in the counterclockwise direction against the force of the spring 24. One end of armature 23 defines a latch 25 for engaging a lever 26 pivoted at a pin 27, said lever biased counter clockwise by a spring 28. Mounted above pivot pin 27 is a reset knob 29 for use in latching the lever to the armature 23. The lower end of lever 26 is linked to a dashpot 30 adjustable by a conventional needle escape port 31 adjusted in cooperation with spring 28. A conventional one-way valve, not shown, permits rapid return of the assembly to the position shown in FIG. 1 by turning knob 29 in the direction of the arrow. In this position, the mechanism is held by latch 25 and a pair of contacts 32 is bridged by the lever 26, said contacts 32 forming a part of the electromagnet circuit. On release of lever 26, contacts 32 are opened and after 1 seconds, determined by the dashpot 30 and spring 28, another set of contacts 33 are bridged by the lever to energize the alarm which comprises an electrically operable siren 50 connected in series with the contacts 33 and the battery 45.

Button 13, biased upward by a spring 34 is linked to a spring biased pawl 35 engaging a ratchet 36. A leaf spring 37 maintains positive ratchet positioning in a conventional manner. A disk 38 has a key similar to the key 39 shown in reference to an alternate disk 40, and the key orients the disk rotationally with ratchet 36, whereby the ratchet and disk are then secured by a screw 41. Disk 38 has a repeating pattern of contact areas 42, separated by non-conductive areas, which bridge a pair of contacts 43 also connected in series with the electromagnet crrcuit.

In the embodiment shown, a 30 ratchet is employed and depression of button 13 three times will put disk 38 in a position that will open contacts 43, while one additional depression will effectively restore the disk to the position shown by employing the next contact sector. Thus, it can be seen that this construction yields a coded disabling means which may be employed by a messenger. As can be seen in FIG. 2, disk 40 provides a code wherein the circuitry is disabled by depressing button 13 twice instead of three times, and other variations are of course available depending on disk and ratchet configuration.

In the operation of the system the messenger carrying the case may walk freely, swinging or jarring the case, and if he wishes to put down the case, he follows his coded instruction of pressing button 13 three times. After picking up the case, he presses button 13 once to reactivate the alarm system.

Should the messenger be held up he merely puts down the case, or at least ensures that the handle is pressed downwardly into the case before relinquishing it. Both contacts 21 are then closed, and since contacts 32 and 43 are also closed, the circuit is completed for energizing the magnet 22. Magnet 22 is only pulsed, because unlatching of the lever 26 at the coupling 25 breaks contact 32 and lever 26 starts to turn. After 1" seconds, contact 33 is closed and battery 45 is used solely for energizing siren 50 which continues to sound for the life of the battery. Furthermore, smashing open case 10 does not make the alarm defeatable since disk 38 and its associated parts are out of the circuit as are contacts 21 and coil 22, and reset knob 29 and its associated parts are inside box 14 which can be opened only by its own key.

lclaim:

l. A burglar alarm system for a case having a carrying handle, comprising a first switch disposed within the case, means accessible from the outside of the case for actuating said first switch, alarm signal means disposed within the case for actuation to generate an alarm signal, a second switch connected to said alarm signal means for actuating the alarm signal, and means interconnecting said first and second switches for operating said second switch in response to actuation of said first switch, said interconnecting means including delay means for delaying operation of said second switch and thereby delaying actuation of the alarm signal for a predetermined time after actuation of said first switch, said means interconnecting said first and second switches further including an electromagnet electrically connected to said first switch for actuation thereby, an armature having latching means thereon and being pivotally mounted for movement by said electromagnet, a movable lever pivotally mounted within said casing and having a portion engaged and releasably retained by said latching means, means connected to said lever for urging it away from engagement with said latching means, said latching means being releasable by movement of said armature under force of said electromagnet, and wherein said delay means includes a dashpot connected to said lever for limiting the speed of pivotal movement of said lever when the latching means is released, said lever being disposed within said casing at a position adjacent said second switch for actuating said second switch upon a predetermined displacement of said lever.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, further comprising means operable externally of the case for disabling said alarm system prior to actuation of said first switch.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 in which said means accessible from the outside of the case for actuating said first switch comprise a rod connecting the carrying handle to the case, said rod having an upper end connected to said handle, and the case having an opening receiving said rod therethrough, said rod having a lower end disposed within the casing for downward movement to close a set of contacts on said first switch.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, in which said alarm system means comprises a siren and an electrical power supply for energizing said siren, and in which said second switch is connected in series combination with said siren and power supply. 

1. A burglar alarm system for a case having a carrying handle, comprising a first switch disposed within the case, means accessible from the outside of the case for actuating said first switch, alarm signal means disposed within the case for actuation to generate an alarm signal, a second switch connected to said alarm signal means for actuating the alarm signal, and means interconnecting said first and second switches for operating said second switch in response to actuation of said first switch, said interconnecting means including delay means for delaying operation of said second switch and thereby delaying actuation of the alarm signal for a predetermined time after actuation of said first switch, said means interconnecting said first and second switches further including an electromagnet electrically connected to said first switch for actuation thereby, an armature having latching means thereon and being pivotally mounted for movement by said electromagnet, a movable lever pivotally mounted within said casing and having a portion engaged and releasably retained by said latching means, means connected to said lever for urging it away from engagement with said latching means, said latching means being releasable by movement of said armature under force of said electromagnet, and wherein said delay means includes a dashpot connected to said lever for limiting the speed of pivotal movement of said lever when the latching means is released, said lever being disposed within said casing at a position adjacent said second switch for actuating said second switch upon a predetermined displacement of said lever.
 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, further comprising means operable externally of the case for disabling said alarm system prior to actuation of said first switch.
 3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 in which said means accessible from the outside of the case for actuating said first switch comprise a rod connecting the carrying handle to the case, said rod having an upper end connected to said handle, and the case having an opening receiving said rod therethrough, said rod having a lower end disposed within the casing for downward movement to close a set of contacts on said first switch.
 4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, in which said alarm system means comprises a siren and an electrical power supply for energizing said siren, and in which said second switch is connected in series combination with said siren and power supply. 